Press Releases

"ATHENS, OH --September 27, 2006-- LibLime, the leader in open-source solutions for libraries, announced today that three more special library collections have migrated to Koha, the first open-source Integrated Library System. Recent migrations include the Native Village of Afognak Library in Alaska, USA; the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project also in Alaska, USA; and the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, a resource room at the University of Toronto, Canada.

In addition to the commitment and passion they pour into their collections, these libraries have two other things in common: small budgets and large software needs. Koha offers special collection staff and users a feature-rich ILS, a web-based OPAC, and outstanding self-service tools. LibLime gives libraries a refreshing alternative to the proprietary software model, offering turnkey solutions with all the advantages of open source-- including the freedom to customize the look and functionality of their ILS."

WEST LIBERTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, WEST LIBERTY, IA--March 2, 2006--
LibLime, the leader in open-source solutions for libraries, announced today that the West Liberty Public Library located in Iowa, USA has migrated to Koha, the first open-source Integrated Library System. This makes West Liberty the second public library system in the US to switch to Koha.

Tim McMahon, Technical Services librarian at West Liberty Public, said "We started looking for a new system when we tried to get our old one online and not only did the project fail, but it caused serious damage to our records. We chose Koha because with open source there is always the possibility someone will add a feature you need or if you have the knowledge, you can add it yourself."

The Koha system is installed on a Linux server and provides West Liberty with web-based access to cataloging, authority control, circulation, acquisitions, and serials control. Patron images are displayed on the circulation page so that circulation staff can easily identify patrons. Online access to the catalog as well as online member services (such as online reserves and renewals) are available through Koha's OPAC module. Enriched catalog records, provided by Amazon.com allow users to view--along with record information--jacket images, book reviews, descriptions, tables of contents and more. The OPAC can be found online at: http://opac.wlpl.org.

"It's been a long wait in the US public library sector for the second Koha migration", explains Joshua Ferraro, President, Technology for LibLime, "but the race was on in 2006". Several other public libraries are expected to migrate later in the first quarter of 2006: the nine libraries in the Crawford County Federated Library System in Pennsylvania and the Stow Monroe Falls Public Library in Ohio.

About Koha

Koha is a full-featured Open Source library management system first deployed in January 2000 at Horowhenua Library Trust. It is currently maintained by a team of software providers and library technology staff from around the globe. Several companies around the world support Koha, providing libraries with a full array of vendor services including installation, migration assistance, data integrity testing, staff training, software maintenance, support and customization. To learn more about what services are available visit http://koha.org/support/. To try out Koha for yourself, visit LibLime's demos:

NOT SAN ANTONIO, TX - In a gala closing reception held nowhere near the ALA Midwinter Conference, the longest-running-if-barely-so library tech blog oss4lib.org came back. Bananas were eaten; drupal modules were installed. Reached at an Ikea store in Georgia, Ross Singer said "I use OSS4Lib, the /only/ source for OSS in Libraries." It's true, he said that - you could hear the slashes in his southern drawl. mdxi, of upstate #code4lib, added "oss4lib is the leading no-longer-purple web news source for developments in the intersection of libre software development and the evolution the library."

Joshua writes: "LibLime is pleased to announce the launch of our website and product demos. LibLime provides full vendor services (migration assistance, staff training, and software maintenance, support and development) to libraries for open-source software like Koha. Our mission is to make open-source software more accessible to libraries. On our website, you can find information about Koha and our other products: Mambo Intranet and DiscrimiNet Filter. Our Koha demos couple version 2.2.2's stable code base with a fresh template re-design. In addition, we've developed several Koha enhancement features: Amazon.com content (item cover images, descriptions, reviews, and ratings), spellchecking on failed search queries, and an auto-completion "Koha Suggest" for the OPAC keyword search, to name a few.

We love feedback, so feel free to visit our site, try out the demos, play around, and let us know what you think. Comments/suggestions/flames are always welcome ;-)."

Terry writes: "Cornell University Library is developing an open source publication management system that will provide authors and publishers with a more affordable way to publish scholarly research on the Web. Cornell received a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to enhance and extend its innovative electronic publishing software called DPubS (Digital Publishing System). Read the full-text of the press release."

Norman wrote in with a press release from CASPR Inc.: "CASPR Inc. today announced at the American Library Association Midwinter Conference an update to its library automation product called LibraryNet, which enables library administrators to easily deploy Web based library solutions on a wide range of platforms using industry standard open source components. LibraryNet 4.0 is an integrated library automation system designed around the industry standard MARC format, Apache Web Server, Perl Programming language, DBFILE indexing system and HTML Web user interface. The program runs on all standard operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, and Linux." Read the full press release here.

Henrik writes: "TheOpenCD project has completed its second CD with high quality Open Source Software for Windows. The mission of TheOpenCD project is to introduce the general computer user to the world of Open Source by making it easily available for Windows users and by presenting it in a professional manner. The latest CD ISO-image is available for immediate download from download mirrors. Recent stable release of OpenOffice and Mozilla provide the cornerstones for this collection. For this version we have expanded the selection of software, while still keeping a tight focus on quality and ease-of-use. For the more complex applications such as OpenOffice and GIMP we have included guides and tutorials, and for AbiWord and Mozilla we now include a selection of plug-ins. The CD browser program is much improved from v1 and now we also include a few multimedia demos in addition to the open source texts such as 'Free as in Freedom'. Software appearing on the TheOpenCD v1.2 is as follows: OpenOffice, AbiWord, TheGIMP, Mozilla, FileZilla, HTTrack, TightVNC, PuTTY, Audacity, CDex, Celestia, ReallySlick, CrackAttack!, YASC, 7zip, SciTE, WinPT and NetTime." And Greenstone, which makes this particularly useful for our community.

Perry writes: "A year and a half ago the ASU West Library made a strategic decision to move all of our public workstations and support servers from a Microsoft platform and onto a Linux platform. Some of you may remember my initial announcement. This paramount project positions our library as a leader and innovator with the use of Linux in a library setting- specifically with access workstations. This accomplishment was obtained using mainly 2 1/2 FTE over the course of 18 months sustaining the Microsoft environment while also building the new Linux environment for a quick, staged, 2-month Summer 2003 conversion. The Library has realized a 50% reduction in TCO and has an open platform positioned for creative new and customized applications and services. We are now free of Microsoft :) Since the fall 2003 semester started, our new workstations (70 stations) have been used by students and visitors over 35,000 times. We have received no complaints. The lack of complaints came as a surprise to us and breaks some standing assumptions we had about our users expectations of computer platforms and applications. A PR announcement was released at LinuxPR.com
(PR Release) and the project is viewable at:E3 Project including the final project documentation (all 180+ pages) in PDF format. I hope you might find our project interesting, informative and useful. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me."

Adam writes: "The ZING Initiative (Z39.50 International Next Generation), under the auspices of the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency at the Library of Congress, is pleased to announce Version 1.0 of SRW and CQL. SRW ("Search/Retrieve for the Web") is a web-service-based protocol which aims to integrate access across networked resources, and to promote interoperability between distributed databases by providing a common platform. SRW features both SOAP and URL-based access mechanisms (SRW and SRU respectively) to provide for a wide range of possible clients. It uses CQL, the Common Query Language, which provides a powerful yet intuitive means of formulating searches."

Pat writes: "The Nelsonville Public Library, which serves 36,000 active borrowers from seven branches, is migrating to Koha. Their one year migration plan includes an investment in Koha development. More information can be found at www.linuxpr.com/releases/5053.html.

Because of growing efforts with Koha in France, a french language koha mailing list has been started. You can subscribe at koha-subscribe@fr.koha.org.

A similar level of interest has developed in Germany, and a german language mailing list has also been created. Again, to subscribe send mail to koha-subscribe@de.koha.org.